Apple profits soar 66 percent as Mac sales exceed 2.16 million

Apple said Monday that fourth-quarter profits rose 66 percent to $904 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, on sales of $6.22 billion for the three-month period ended September 29, 2007.

The results compare to revenue of $4.84 billion and net quarterly profit of $542 million, or $.62 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 33.6 percent, up from 29.2 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter's revenue.

"We are very pleased to have generated over $24 billion in revenue and $3.5 billion in net income in fiscal 2007," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "We're looking forward to a strong December quarter as we enter the holiday season with Apple's best products ever."

Apple shipped 2,164,000 Macintosh computers, representing 34 percent growth over the year-ago quarter and exceeding the previous quarterly record for Mac shipments by 400,000. The Company sold 10,200,000 iPods during the quarter, representing 17 percent growth over the year-ago quarter. Quarterly iPhone sales were 1,119,000, bringing cumulative fiscal 2007 sales to 1,389,000.

"Apple ended the fiscal year with $15.4 billion in cash and no debt," said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's CFO. "Looking ahead to the first quarter of fiscal 2008, we expect revenue of about $9.2 billion and earnings per diluted share of about $1.42."

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q4 2007 financial results conference call utilizing QuickTime beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT. AppleInsider will provide its usual coverage (added: 1, 2).